Denmark to Albany Week 38

                   Denmark to Albany

                           Week 38

The year is roaring to a close as we move inexorably toward Christmas and a brave new year. We are trying to feel as though we aren’t missing the end of year whirl with family and friends but if you believe we have succeeded, you will believe anything.

Some of the people reading this with you are doing exciting things. One lucky couple has just returned from a cruise, while another friend is off to Bali. Others are off to Tassie for an explore and more are heading homeward to reconnect at Christmas. Another is venturing off to the states for a white Christmas. Many are attending those end of year parties and celebrating the end of another successful year. Others are enjoying a honeymoon. Oh to be young and carefree. Others are waiting for babies to arrive. Good luck and great joy to those expectant mums and dads, and of course the grandparents. We are most forlorn about missing our grandson’s first Christmas, but look forward to seeing those infectious smiles and gurgles. Best wishes to you all. Enough of this and back to the marathon.

Denmark is a pretty place, but our arrival was fraught with stress. There are two caravan parks here, the Riverbend and the Rivermouth. We had arranged for the Riverbend, letting them know the size of our van, but the “No worries” WAS. It turned out to be avery small park with only five or six sites, definitely not meant for larger vans, and ours is only middle sized. We did try, but had to admit defeat and moved on to the “mouth”. Our first thought was to look for protection from blustery winds, and secondly shade, because in between the bad weather, they have periods of heat wave. We were lucky to get one of the few spots that afforded both.

There are lots of opportunities to walk here, especially along the river back to the township. Birds, especially pelicans abound and it is an ideal anchorage.

Early settlers built this bridge to cart their timber to the port, but now is just a walkway for local fitness and those on the Bibbulmun Track, for we are near the terminus point of Albany.

The piece de resistance here is Green Pool. On a hot day it is a beautiful clear sea pool perfect for families. I thought of Ruth here and how her paintbrush fingers would be twitching in anticipation. 

Close by are Elephant Rocks, for the slightly more adventurous where some of the rocks look like elephants standing close looking out at the beautiful vista.

The golf course here has sand greens, but they are fast and true, so a game here is an enjoyable experience, nowhere near as hilly as we experienced in Walpole. As Brian puts it, we don’t need a brick to put under one foot for balance.

Pleasant as it is here, onward ho we go to Albany, where my new bankcard is hopefully waiting for me. One of the stresses of travelling for prolonged periods is getting “stuff”. When we found the bank and explained  they should have a card waiting, the teller was greatly relieved as the Edmonton branch had forwarded the card, but, despite assurances, had sent no covering explanation. Luckily it had arrived that morning so our timing was great.

We are staying at the Middleton Beach Caravan Park. You can walk along cliff pathways back to the visitors centre and the town, about an hour an a half each way or along the beach and pathway for an hour or so in the other direction to Emu Point. Owen would love it for Mango and Whisper, but no sticks. All the dog walkers have those throw sticks for tennis balls. We do miss those beach walks with Vanilla and Bertie when we visited Owen. The other way is perfect for the Red Arrow crowd because your leg muscles get a good working out. With all this walking we should be fading to a shadow, but I fear we have too much fuel input.

Whale World was one place to visit here. Very good for the historical link, but I for one found it a bit disturbing to think of all those magnificent creatures who died because of men. The dispassionate young lass giving the learnt commentary didn’t help those feelings of remorse for maltreatment of the whales in the name of commerce. At least they didn’t pretend it was research.

There are some skeletal displays that are awesome and there is also a delightful 3D movie well worth a view. It took us back to Avatar and the blues brothers look, but further back to our childhood and those cardboard glasses. The only difference was the lenses were not red and green.

A beached whaling ship is easy to explore. It is an interesting way to spend a bit of time. In town, there is a historical walk, but many of the featured stops along the way require an entry fee, so it would add up pretty quickly if you paid for everywhere. Maybe this is the downside of bigger places, everyone wants their ten dollars worth, or more.

More enjoyable was an exploration of Natural Arch and the Gap. Here the forces of nature are hard at work in changing the coastline, as it has been since this land was joined to Antarctica. Nearby are the blowholes, not spectacular in wave action today, but the air rising was enough to carry Brian’s hat into the air in an almost successful escape bid.

There have been lots of markets to pour over, craft markets and farmer’s markets, the latter being popular with the locals. They are not necessarily cheaper than the shops, so you do have to be discriminating, but there is lots to tempt. We even found a RSPCA store where we found some treasures for next to nothing. Brian got a tupperware cake container perfect for the carrot cake he has just made and I found a jacket a bit lighter than my big winter one, just enough to take the bite out of the wind, plus some glass bowls, all for less than $10. How good is that?

So after wearing out our wallets and our legs, we are gathering ourselves for the next stage of the journey, off towards Esperance.

Have a good week all of you. Love to hear from you all.

The Wandering Nomads

Shannon to Walpole Week 37

        Shannon National Park to Walpole

                           Week 37

Another week, another forest, another big tree. How the other half live.

We decide to “change the pace” a bit and spend three nights in the Shannon National Park. It was once a timber town with 90 houses in the community, shops, a sport’s oval , school and a golf course. Now there is little to suggest any habitation in this open forest with a myriad of birds, kangaroos and a sign post or picture of what once was.

At $9 per person per night, it is not cheap camping, but the toilet block is tiled and has personal units and there is a donkey hot water system that is great. We thought of Jenny here. not only would she like the forest stay, but the hot water solution would be perfect. It didn’t take much to stoke the boiler. In fact one night another camper stoked the boiler too much. When I had my shower, there was so much rattling and banging on the roof, I thought it was going to explode. Luckily all the shower events after that were less risky as everyone was much more conscious of not overdoing the heat.

Speaking of heat, We cannot believe it is a week away from the first day of summer and we are still wearing coats and jumpers. We did have a mini heat wave last week, so I put my jumper away but it was resurrected very quickly indeed when the temperatures predictably plummeted.

Brian’s favourite part of the stay was using the personal fireplaces where all his boy scout training came to the fore. He had a ball, and sitting by the fire celebrating while dinner roasted in the coals was hard to take.

Predictably we have done lots of forest drives and walks. The senses are bombarded with colour, shape and form. The variety of texture in the bark is amazing. The karri and bloodwood have their own definitive style, but when you add tingles into the mix, then it gets amazing.

From Shannon we took a look at Lane Pool  Falls. The walk was very overgrown and leaf litter increased our fears of charging snakes. Our fears were calmed as the track fed into the thicker overgrown forest by the benign melody of the birds. “It’s safe. It’s nice in here.” My imagination can imagine the malevolence of the forest in the gloom of the approaching night. As the tendrils of vines hanging low brush you tentatively you sense the forest wants you to linger. Imaginations should be banned, but we did need it for the falls - as expected, virtually a dry trickle. We did reward ourselves with a very nice late lunch at Northcliffe as a treat.

We find the tingles the ‘feature tree’ around Albany. Their root system is basically hollow, so the base can be eaten by fungus, rotted out, burnt and hollowed and still the tree grows and survives. Amazing really. There was a tree tourists would drive through, right from when buggies were the go through to motorized transport, but they discovered this will eventually kill the tree so they are a bit more protective now.

There is a golf course at Walpole where we had a bit of a break from trees. A $10 course so right in our price range. Very hilly so it is good exercise to walk around, let alone swing at balls. The weather beat us though and we only managed nine holes. We intended to return for more in our naiveté, but the weather lasted longer than our resolve to return.

After a walk in the Valley of giants, resisting the Tree top walk (been one a few before so saved the $20), we had a gourmet lunch at Nornalup and spent three times that, FOR LUNCH- not like us at all, but it was so delicious it was worth it.

Replete but guilty, we went to view Conspicuous Cliff. The sea here is wild, the waves rolling and breaking every which way. No whales to report but I think they are well on the way to Antarctic waters for the summer.

Our final day in Walpole before moving on to Denmark( who says we don’t go overseas?) we explore Mount Frankland National Park. It is only about half the height of the Pyramid, so as you climb the steps and the rocky paths to the granite outcrop that is the summit, it is great to remember we have done far more at home, and ignore the shaking legs (probably as much from fear as from exertion as all of you who know me and my issue with heights can smile about). Here from the summit you get an impression of how much forest there is and how little land has been cleared for grazing or farming.

Though winter is the wet season here, the drought here has ensured waterfalls and the like are mere trickles. We still go the extra distance and head for  Fernhook Falls, another delightful national park camping area, not for caravans though as we experienced in Shannon. We were delighted with snippets of nature, a bit like movie tone news shorts that you oldies out there will remember. A snake crosses our path, there a shingleback, here a flash of blue fairy wrens and now a kangaroo sits idly on the dirt track oblivious to our approach. A father emu scurries in a panic across the road in front of us followed by a dozen chicks. He did double back to check they had all safely crossed before shepherding them to the depths of the forest.

An interesting visit was to Sawbrick, an artistic walk in the forest. Here you enter through the door to a deeper understanding.

Next you come to a wall that impressed Brian- stainless steel polished like a mirror. Some twit had thrown stones, but the resulting bulges were like little kaleidoscopes changing the image with every little movement of your perspective. Very engaging. 

The ghost feather was Brian’s favourite.

I didn’t mind the ring that seemed to connect the earth to the sky through the forest window.

Thus our further week of forest exploration has encouraged us to trek further eastward. Everyone has started to talk about Christmas, but who knows where we will be next week, let alone next month - probably Perth.

Happy planning to you all. Don’t forget to keep in touch, Love to hear from you all. Thanks to Wal and Gail and Jenny for those wedding photos. Didn’t Fiona look the beautiful bride!!!

The delighted Nomads

Pemberton Week 36

                        Week 36

                           Pemberton

Well, it is heatwave time in WA, but here in Pemberton it is moderated by the surrounding forests. You can take off 5 degrees in the shade, and the heat is dry so sweat is actually effective. Hence 37 translates to 32 and is fine. Nights are still between 10 and 15, but it doesn’t feel that bad.

We started off the week with a heartstarting “stroll” in the walk on the hillslope behind the park, one of the few places that have never been logged. This was a great start to the week.

Brian’s choice today so we head off to do the Karri Explorer drive. Our first stop was the Gloucester tree. You can climb 60 metres to the forrest observation tower if you are a thrill seeker. Brian was, but I prefer to watch. Actually when you sit and listen the bird song is like an orchestra tuning up, a timphany of whistles and chirps and twitters. If you are still and watch, you are sure to spot a myriad of life.

We headed on to the Big Brook Dam and the Arboretum. After we had been, Liz and Brian said they had stayed there, great spot. There was a fallen tree over the road, so we had to back track through the Arboretum - no chainsaw in the car. There is a walk around the lake, about 4kms but easy peasie. Its a bit like walking around Barrine with the advantage of sealed path but drier, so Barrine wins this one. They have had the driest winter on record though so we do have to forgive nature on this occasion.

Onward ho and we stop at the Warren River Cedar (ho hum) and the Big Karri. Yes these trees are big. By this time the day is nearly done so we leave the rest of the loop for another occasion and head back through farming communities, Grapes, avocados and plantation timber are biggies.

The golf course beckons on Tuesday to give us a break from tree hugging. Have to admit it did get hot as the day progressed, but it was our first round of 18 holes for a long time and we had the course to ourselves and a very talkative volunteer mowing the rough. They only have 30 members, 15 regular players and no women, so the tee offs for women were sad or non-existent. Even the sand greens were playable so we had a great day.

Wednesday finds us with an early start heading for the D’Entrecasteaux National Park and the largest moving sanddune in the southern hemisphere. The Yeagarup Dunes are about 10kms inland so not a wave insight, just forest starting to be overcome by sand. Brian has been proving once again that boys become men, but you can’ take the boy away.

We had a lucky find for this time of year and came across a slender sun orchid. It is definitely past the season so we were chuffed. We were also happy the owners of fifty or so bright orange hats arrived after we had explored the dunes with only one couple of European tourists. How was that for timing?

Passing Petticoat Lane, we bowed to curiosity and ventured down to see where it led - deeper and deeper into the bush, much more rugged than the “main” park roads. We had an up close and personal look at a fallen tree and spied a few likely camp spots the caravan could never aspire to visiting.

Next we followed Heartbreak Trail in the Warren National Park, tame in comparison to Petticoat Lane. Here Brian got to scale an even taller tree, the Bicentennial Tree, taller by 25 metres but easier on the legs according to the expert, but perhaps he is regaining fitness.

That leaves us just enough time to return for the Pemberton Tramway ride to the Warren River and the Cascades. Bit ho hummy, but brought back many fond memories of other tram rides and the people we shared them with. There was a cute little baby who screamed everytime the whistle blowed , quite often. By the end of the journey he had run out of steam himself. His jaw would drop, his lip would quiver and eyes widened, he just couldn’t manage another squeak. 

We did learn that the kookaburras are here in WA because 40 of them were released from the Perth Zoo. They have been very successful in settling as they are everywhere in these forests. Don’t know the timelines here, but judging from the population distribution, it wasn’t recent.

We have heard Windy Harbour is a great place to see, so off we venture once more. First port of call, pun intended, is Mount Chudalup where we get in a walk. It reminds us of Bald Rock near Tenterfield, but a much smaller version, just as well because the heat wave is continuing.

Windy Harbour is like a coastal version of Diana’s Lake in NZ where there are “Batches” or holiday houses. Sorry WA but we couldn’t imagine wanting to be here for too long. The flies were incredible so stopping by the ocean to boil the kettle was not an option. They would literally carry you away. Mt Chudalup was not so infested so we managed a lunch there before having a look at Northcliffe. There is a little museum here that is interesting and a gallery that has lots of intarsia (sorry about the spelling Wal), but its not a thriving metropolis and we are once again we have chosen Pemberton as our base.

Still hot on Friday, we decide to have another game of golf, 9 holes in the morning followed by some exploration and then finishing the round in the evening. That was fine until the late afternoon thunderstorm rolled in. Still we survived, obviously.

During the interim we head for Beedelup Falls a and the walk through tree. It is still hot and dry, and the tree is filled with buzzing insects.We have trudged uphill through “mad-dogs-and-englishmen” time to view this step through tree          so you can imagine how much we have appreciated the experience.

After some differences of agreement in map reading, we follow a forest drive that leads us through Gilbert where there has been an organized protest that Andrew will appreciate after his early days in the Franklin River in Tasmania. The protesters have long gone, but the forests still stand and there is a testament to the history of this.

Our final day at Pemberton finds us exploring Manjimup. Here we find the third climbing tree of the district, the Diamond Tree, but Brian was not tempted to climb this third tower into the upper storey of the forest. The impending thunderstorm may have been a deterrent. 

There are trees that began as a giant then turned into two disparate entities. The town is much bigger than where we are staying so grocery shopping is easier and cheaper. There is a farmers market, but nothing like the Christmas markets at Yungaburra or the Rusty’s Markets in Cairns. We must be spoiled.

There is a nice caravan park here, Fonty’s Pool that we have earmarked for our return journey to Perth in a month or so. It is very nice, but I imagine it will be exceedingly popular by the time we return. We have a bit of a sample at the Truffle Co and get some truffle infused oil, dukkah and a bottle of reisling to celebrate Fiona and Andrew’s wedding today. Hearty congratulations to you both. As I sit there writing this after a bottle of wine shared with Brian, discussing our plans for or 22nd anniversary, I am amazed there aren’t more red lines in the text. Forgive us, for we have celebrated and toasted the bride and groom in absentia.

So tomorrow we will head to the Shannon National Park on our way to our next forest explorations at Walpole.

Have a good week .

Love from the Nomads

PS Eric. What do I have to do to get a map of the journey????